1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to magnetic heads in general, and, in particular, to magnetic heads used in magnetic storage devices. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing sliders for magnetic thin-film heads to be used in magnetic storage devices.
2. Description of Related Art
In a magnetic recording apparatus such as a hard disk drive, a magnetic head is typically utilized to facilitate the process of information recording. Currently, thin-film magnetic heads are built upon a wafer, which is then cut into pieces, and, after further processing, is converted into sliders. A thin-film magnetic head slider is disposed so as to face a recording surface of a magnetic recording medium such as a disk within a hard disk drive.
Conventionally, a thin-film magnetic head slider is manufactured according to the following steps. First, multiple thin-film magnetic heads are formed on a wafer made of a ceramic material. Subsequently, the wafer is cut into multiple bars, called rows, by using a dicing saw or the like. Each of the rows includes multiple magnetic head sliders. Surfaces of the rows are lapped and polished. Next, a surface of each of the magnetic head sliders is etched to a predetermined shape by an etching process to form an air-bearing surface. Finally, each row is cut into individual magnetic head sliders.
The present disclosure provides an improved method for manufacturing thin-film sliders for magnetic heads to be used in magnetic storage devices, particularly in the area of improving the etching process for air-bearing surfaces.